Negative Correlation between Dominance and Frequencies of Oviposition and Oophagy in a Foundress Association of the Japanese Paper Wasp, Polistes jadwigae DALLA TORRE(Hymenoptera:Vespidae)

A three-female nest of Polistes jadwigae DALLA TORRE was observed before the worker eclosion in 1986. Female A was determined to be the 'dominant' because she frequently attacked the other two while being rarely attacked. But this female was the smallest in body size, did not oviposit nor eat eggs, spent more time off the nest, and engaged in foraging between at least May 17 and 31. This curious social relation was suddenly broken on 31 May due to falling fights among the foundresses. The features were quite different from those of multi-foundress colonies which have hitherto been reported in Polistes of Europe and North America.